The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1887-06-17
ON PILGRIMS BONES.
USING COTTON MATHER'S COFFIN
IN AN ESCAPE FROM A TOMB.

USING COTTON MATHER's COFFIN
IN AN ESCAPE FROM A TOMB.
An Incident at the Famous Burying
Ground on Copp's Hnl-How Charles
town Celebrates the Fight Oh Bunker
Hill-Boston News and Gossip.
BosToN, June IA.
Few people outside this locality know
that the Seventeenth Of June is one Of the
most popular holidays Of the year here. 1t
is Bunker Hill day, and sleepy Charlestown
puts enough hurrah into it to last year.
All Of Boston that can be spared goes over
to help shout. A Horrible procession in the
morning and more dignifled parades in the
MOI n.ng and afternoon are the main fea-
lures, though the firemen will put in little
of the old fashioned hand machine business.
The ceremonies end with the time-honored
custom Of putting brick under the cap Of
the monument, which is supposed to signify
that multitudinous hats are similarly filed
in the crowd on the ground level.
s*4
"Look out there! You'll fall into a
tomb! T" was the startling cry heard the
OUAOA oAVCAuOOAts 1 was SbUlO1l1Ilk 640Ouk UuC
ancient graves on Cops hill in search Of a
high tenements lining the Charles, for
ment. Here on Cops hill was planted a
great effect on the Yankee intrenchments,
The monument looms up prominently at
thic cka 10 ~ A,o 1,;o1 OF
tainable. ! had reached the right spot when
heard the caretaker's yell, but didn't
inger.
He had tumbled into one of the vaults
himself one autumn day, after the grave
yard had been closed to ordinary visitors
for the winter season. The treacherous
ground had given way beneath his weight,
and he pumped through the mold and the
decayed timbers down dozen feet, landing
near pile of rotting coffins containing the
bones of Pilgrim fathers and mothers.
He was received into the midst of
one of the first families of Massachusetts,
but at the time the honor didn't seem to i'm
press him half SO deeply asthe rough stones
of the tomb
Unless he could find some means of climb
ing the walls he was likely to remain there
until the following spring.
So he pulled over the huge heap of Shiny
coffins hanling out one box after another
whose sides had not yet crum-
bled with decay. Then piling what
may have held the mortal frame Of Cotton
Mather on that containing the clay of the
nnce eloquants Increase or samuel. and, ON
these, other bulging. breaking boxes, he
mounted on dead theologians, statesmen
and traders to the bright sunlight and fresh
air above.
1t seems that the vaults in which were
deposited by scores the bodies of the
Mathers, the Cottons, the Andrewses and
Eliots were rooted over with planks, which
have rotted until only slight pressure is
needed to break through These vaults lie
only foot or two below the surface. Tha
Oldest gravestone dates from 1925.
*~.
The burying ground is now desolate
looking spot, its weather-colored tombstones
gnawed by time and broken by the wanton
target practice of British soldiers;rank grass
growing over the leveled graves; the only
lively feature the chatter and screams of
the hordes Of ragged children who make
raids upon the grounds whenever the
watchman's back is turned. 1t has often
been proposed to clear away the riverside
HOUSES dNu Op0u W Uuc
the fine view of the river; clearing
out the graves and making the knoll
a public park; but probably old titles to the
lot forbid The board of health must prove
the place nuisance, which isn't easily DONE
~
The claims of sentiment are light; few
curiosity seekers visit this neglected spot,
for the way to it lies through a suualid
hvy Col
peopled by the pawnbroking class of the
whose tower hung the signll lanterns of
Paul Revere. The present lofty tower is
an exact duplicate of the memorable one of
hangs the first chime of bells
in America, founded IN Gloucester.
England, in 1744 for Christ church, which
built the "Old North twenty-fi years
before. Here was established one
of the several first Sunday schools
in America. The silverware and
books now in use were given by
George II.
Not "Christ before Pilate' but 'The
Harangue of Caiaphas' should be the name
of Munkacsy's great painting, which is now
exhibiting here, though it is not likely that
it would draw as well under its proper
name. The figures of the Jewish priest and
of the beastly Anarchist shouting
"Crucify him. are glorious tri-
umphs of art, but it requires great
religious zeal to ''read into'' the figure
supposed to represent Christ any semblance of
life or of inspiring presence. There is no hint
of grandeur in the face, though one may
find there the stern, defiant purpose and
shrewdness which characterize many face
upon our New England farms or behind
shop counters. Pilates sturdy figure and
rounded head suit the typical Roman; there
is curious weakness about the indeterminate
mouth
The grouping and form of the figures is
marvel, and herein is its main value to or
dinary people who would learn something
about painting. So far as the faces go, the
small photographs are worth more than q
view of the painting. because the photogra-
piers have put expression into the features.
The exhibition Of the painting in this coun-
try has already yielded profits amounting
nearly to its cost-$100, 600.
sFs
There is no poetry about the life of a dis
charged convict in a town where he Is
known. How would the reader like to drive
horse car through streets lined with
policemen and loafers who take pleasure in
yelling ''There goes the ex-convict"; How
about that man you knocked down and
robbed in the woods -: sWhen did YOU get